1、2013届高三英语星级阶梯阅读练习 二星级10AOne cold January evening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, America, I went with my father on an oil burner service call. My father was in his forties at that time and I was about twelve years old. He was always working hard trying to support us seven kids. I enjoyed hanging out
2、with him whenever I could he taught me so much.We arrived at the call and after walking over snow and ice, we knocked on the customers door. A senior citizen opened the door and let us into her very cold home. She was wearing an old, worn-out brown coat that went down to her knees. On her head, cove
3、ring her gray hair, was an old and worn hat. The home wasnt furnished very well and was quite dark, except for a single light bulb over the dining room table. Below the light was an older man counting change from several old coffee cans. He looked up at us as we passed by to get to the kitchen where
4、 my dad would fix the oil burner. He didnt say anything. He just looked up at us. He couldnt speak English, nor could his wife. She only pointed to the kitchen and smiled at us.After a short while, my father had the heater up and running, and it began to heat their cold home. The lady asked my dad i
5、n poor English how much she owed him for fixing the heater. My dad looked around the house and said that he had to go out to the truck and write the bill.Once in the truck he marked the bill “no answer at home, no charge”, so they wouldnt be charged for his work. He looked over at me and said, “He w
6、as counting his change to pay me. They need their money more than I do.”As usual, my father taught me something important that time, which was to be kind to the poor.51. According to Paragraph 1, we know that the writers father . A. often taught the writer how to workB. worked several jobs at the sa
7、me timeC. had a very big family to supportD. brought up his children alone52. The description in Paragraph 2 shows that the old couple .A. had no jobB. led a very poor lifeC. didnt know how to save moneyD. were not very friendly to strangers53. What can we infer from the passage?A. The old couple ha
8、d no children in America.B. The old man didnt plan to pay money.C. The old woman felt very embarrassed all the time.D. The old couple were not native Americans.54. The writers father didnt charge for his work because .A. he didnt need that moneyB. he felt pity for the old coupleC. he was not satisfi
9、ed with his workD. he wanted to set a good example to othersBHallmark arrived in my hometown of Calcutta, India when I was 16. On Valentines Day(情人节), I waited in line with many other teenagers just for a chance to get into the store. I remember wishing two things. One of them is that the good-looki
10、ng boy whom I could see through the store window was picking out a gift for me. Unfortunately, Valentines Day passed and I received nothing but a lecture from my father on how Western capitalism(资本主义) was ruining your culture.The next Valentines Day, I still didnt have a boyfriend, but I did receive
11、 a greeting card from a secret admirer. I cant remember what it exactly said inside the card, but it hardly mattered. I know Im not the only one whos had the blues because of being single on Valentines Day. Its not just on Valentines Day that Im reminded of these feelings. One night, my friend and I
12、 were at the subway station in New York City waiting for the local to arrive. The station was mostly full of college students, and later an older couple walked in. Just at that moment, a street musician started playing Shes Only a Woman to Me. The couple began dancing around the station and lost in
13、their own world. On the train, I found myself recalling the time when I was with a date at the subway station, and there he picked me up in his arms like I was a ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员).My view of romance has changed from when I was 16 in Calcutta to now, 23, and living in Manhattan. This year, I wont foc
14、us all my romantic expectations on one particular day. Ill spend Valentines Day with friends in New York City. But I wont try to hide somewhere or turn off my cellphone. Instead, Ill help my coupled-up friends pack for their weekend trips to Rome.55. The underlined word “Hallmark” in Paragraph 1 pro
15、bably refers to a .A. cityB. streetC. storeD. man56. We can infer that in the opinion of the writers father .A. his daughter should have received a giftB. people in India shouldnt celebrate Valentines DayC. people in India should welcome Western cultureD. his daughter should know more about capitali
16、sm57. According to Paragraph 2, if someone has the blues, he or she is probably .A. luckyB. angryC. excitedD. sad58. What is implied in the passage?A. The writer now has a boyfriend.B. The writer now is afraid of Valentines Day.C. The writer will go to Rome with her coupled-up friends.D. The writers
17、 attitude towards Valentines Day has changed.CI was sleeping in my room when my bed started shaking and a loud noise was heard. I woke up and my mom was screaming my name. Next moment I was running along with my younger sister, mom and dad. Before I ran out of the door, I realized my elder sister ha
18、dnt come out yet. So I screamed her name at the top of my voice. My mom said she had gone to her class. Then the four of us, along with many others, were running on the staircase. We lived on the seventh floor, so I thought we would not be able to make it and the building would fall before we manage
19、d to reach even the fourth floor. My dads head was injured by something falling down. I did try to put my hand over his head. When we reached the sixth floor, the building split into two. We had no way to get down.The next thing I remember is silence. There were around 30 people on the staircase and
20、 none could react. Five minutes later, someone opened the door of the sixth-floor flat. We all went in. We were wondering how would get down. From the balcony of the sixth-floor flat, I saw people standing on the ground floor. All eyes were stuck on us. I could see my elder sister crying.Our first h
21、ope of surviving came when a worker climbed a rope to where we were. That was the first time we thought maybe we could get down. Half an hour passed and we were still trapped. Finally RSS people arrived with ropes. They got people down one by one. My biggest worry was how my dad would get down. Fina
22、lly after two and a half hours, we all got down.That day we saw the power of nature. It has taken more than two years to build the flats and it took just one and a half minutes to destroy the structure.59. What is this passage mainly about?A. Ways to survive an earthquake.B. Reasons why earthquakes
23、happen.C. The love of parents in an earthquake.D. The writers experience in an earthquake.60. When the building split into two, the writer and his family _.A. were still sleepingB. were trapped on the sixth floorC. were looking for a family memberD. were running on the staircase of the seventh floor
24、61. The first time the writer thought they would probably survive was when .A. he was encouraged by people on the ground floorB. someone opened the door of the sixth-floor flatC. a worker climbed up on a ropeD. RSS people arrived with ropes62. The earthquake made the writer realize that .A. there is
25、 always hope for peopleB. the power of nature is really greatC. natural disasters can happen any timeD. human beings are strong in natural disastersDForget famous goal celebration such as “The Robot” by Peter Crouch and “The Dive” by Juergen Klinsmann, here comes the South African “Diski dance”. The
26、 Diski dance, which is performed through heading and kicking an imaginary ball, may be a goal celebration to watch in the following matches.South Africas Siphiwe Tshabalala and his teammates performed this different dance when they celebrated his goal against Mexico in the opening World Cup game on
27、Friday. The dance is already popular on YouTube and many soccer fans may want to learn the moves.Even South Africas President Jacob Zuma has learnt the Diski dance which could be better than Cameroon Roger Millas corner flag dance celebration in the 1990 FIFA World Cup. US actor John Travolta perfor
28、med the dance shortly after landing his Boeing 707 at Lanseria airport, north of Johannesburg, on Wednesday morning.Goal celebrations are now part of the biggest sporting event and players plan them in advance just in case they find the back of the net. In football, a goal celebration is the practic
29、e of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration may be performed by the goal-scorer, his or her teammates, the manager or coaches and the supporters of the team.The Robot goal celebration was so popular that England fans were surprised when Crouch, an English international footballer, said t
30、hat he wouldnt be doing it any more unless England won the World Cup.The word Diski is the word used by the local people for soccer and may also describe the local style of football which focuses on dribbling(带球) and other tricks.63. Besides “Diski dance”, how many types of goal celebrations are men
31、tioned in the passage?A. 2. B. 3. C. 4. D. 5.64. The underlined part “find the back of the net” in Paragraph 4 means .A. score a goalB. win the matchC. take a restD. take part in a match65. What do we learn about the word “Diski”?A. It has become the most popular sports word in the world now.B. It w
32、as used to show how people were good at dribbling.C. It was used to describe a football which was imagined by footballers.D. It was probably mainly used in South Africa before the South Africa World Cup.66. What can we infer from the passage?A. All the footballers should have their own goal celebrat
33、ions.B. Goal celebrations play an important role in football games.C. Famous goal celebrations all appeared in the World Cup games.D. Footballers often dont plan their goal celebrations ahead of time.EYoure lost in the world of dreams and sleep. You roll over, smiling as you come across a swimming p
34、ool filled with chocolate. And then, your wonderful dream becomes a nightmare when someone is screaming, “Get up!” It s just what every teenager goes through each morning!Now, there seems to be one school that finally understands that requiring teens to show up at 9 am is not just cruel but also har
35、mful to both the kids and the school.The Monkseaton High School in North Tyneside, Britain, recently decided to experiment to see if there is any difference in student behavior if they just pushed back the start of their day by one hour, from 9 am to 10 am. And the results are surprising.Since carry
36、ing out the later start, Monkseaton has seen a 28% drop in truancy, even hardly any lateness, and best of all, higher test scores. One of the reasons is that the teenagers are much happier to have the extra hour of sleep, but there is also a scientific reason behind why they need the extra sleep.The
37、 schools decision to push back the time was based on the research done by Oxford Professor Russell Foster, who pointed out that teenagers and adults have different sleep cycles, explaining why teenagers go to bed late and wake up late.While adults are wide awake and ready at 8 am, teenagers are not
38、fully awake until 10 am, sometimes even noon. Teachers may argue that their students perform better in the morning, but in fact, it is because they are in the zone while their students are still sleepy, making the students easier to control. Memory tests prove that the more difficult classes should
39、be in the afternoon when teenagers are most wide awake.The Monkseaton school officials are encouraged by the results and plan on voting to make it a permanent change.67. Whats the best title of this passage?A. Get up early, teenagers!B. Finally, a school understands teenagers.C. Why do teenagers sta
40、y up late?D. Difference between teens and adults.68. Whats the meaning of the underlined word “truancy”?A. gradesB. subjectsC. absenceD. classes 69. What can we learn from the passage?A. Teenagers and adults have the same sleep cycle.B. Teenagers are fully awake at 10 am.C. Teenagers are much happie
41、r to sleep than study.D. Teenagers need the extra sleep also for a scientific reason.70. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? A. The Monkseaton school is satisfied with the result of experiments.B. It is cruel for the teenagers to show up at 9 am.C. The Monkseaton school plans to change the school time forever.D. Teenagers perform better in the morning than in the afternoon.5154 CBDB 5558 CBDD 5962 DBCB 6366 BADB 6770 BCDD